Marks of Revival
by misomilk
Summary: Most things we get to keep by protecting them. Some things we lose by holding on to them too tight. Trying to keep one's beloved from harm, is that always the right decision? Post-BBS. Isa and Lea's adventure to the Castle and how they turned into Nobodies.


**.x. Marks of Revival .x.**

**SUMMARY:** Most things we get to keep by protecting them. Some things we lose by holding on to them too tight. Trying to keep the one's beloved from harm, is that always the right decision?  
**PAIRING:** LeaxIsa, IsaxLea  
**WORD COUNT: **3,952 words  
**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Enjoy!

* * *

Today day was the day.

After weeks of planning and trying to get past the guards of the Castle, calculating which was the best route to sneak through the castle front door's two guards, today was the day they were finally going to sneak past them and explore the Castle. Because-what greater joy could there be in two spirited teens than be able to sneak into the Castle that no other kids in school have successfully sneaked into?

It was going to be easy, of course, with Lea's stealth, Isa's brains and their flawless plan constructed for the past few weeks. It was gonna be a walk in the park.

But once they got to the Castle, it was all _too_ easy.

Dilan and Aeleus-guards of the castle whom they usually encounter-were not around. The pair of teens memorized their names among the many times they heard the bulky pair call each other. It usually turned out that the earlier would try to catch the lithe Isa running across the castle's Front Doors and the latter would be preoccupied with Lea biting onto his arm or blocking off thrown chakrams towards his direction. The young pair assumed the two guards would be their greatest obstacle in today's ultimate break-in plan.

_This is strange._ Isa pondered, brows furrowed. _Very strange._

"Lucky~! They're on lunch break!" Lea beamed, putting his rubber chakrams, which he'd readied to make his attack on Aeleus, back into place. "Of all the times, huh? I wish we've come here in the past at this time, Isa."

Isa was silent, thinking, brows still furrowed. This was truly, eerily suspicious. Lea may not have noticed, but they have gone to the Castle around this time many times before, but never had they encountered the guard post empty. It was unusual for any of them to leave the entrance unguarded. Either one of the pair of guards remained, or both Dilan and Aeleus would switch with Braig. And in those rare moments when Braig was on guard, Isa never continued on with the attempt to break into the Castle. Isa never wanted Lea, who would have jumped head on to such a dangerous challenge, to fight Braig. The man with the scarred face smelled too dangerous.

"Let's go back, Lea." Isa spoke, voice stern.

"Wha-? Oi, oi, oi, Isa. What are you saying?" Lea frowned, twisting his face in a manner Isa would have laughed at if he hadn't been feeling so eery about their current situation, arms roaming through the air as if he lost control over them in his surprise. "We've planned this for weeks! Months, maybe! We probably won't have a better chance than this. Don't you think so?"

Isa shook his head. "Something feels fishy." The blue-haired looked up the Castle walls, scanning to see if there was any proof to the strange, eery feel of the Castle that day. But nothing was wrong. Nothing was out of place. Nothing. Everything outside the Castle looked just the same as it usually did. There was no proof of it, but the strange feeling still wouldn't disappear.

"Let's go, Lea. We'll come back another day." he spoke, but there was no response. "Lea?" The bluenette looked to his side where he expected to see the red-head's disappointed face. However, the bluenette's heart fell in shock when he had realized the other already zoomed off into the Castle, in such a haste he even left the door open.

"That _idiot_."

* * *

Looking for Lea was supposed to be as simple as: track the red-head down, knock a few punches of sense into him (because he should never _ever_ take action without Isa's approval during these missions they plan again, _ever_), and then drag him back out the main door before Dilan and Aeleus came back from (what Lea assumed to be) their break. But, unfortunately for Isa, the moment they had stepped into the Castle that day, there was no escaping their fate.

In his search for his friend, Isa ended up wide-eyed, frozen with his feet planted onto the very spot he stood at the door of what seemed to be a study room. He could not will any inch of his body to move. Through the slight opening of the door, he saw five bodies-three of which he was very much familiar with-laid spread out, lifeless on the floor, and a man of long, silver hair hovered over them in the middle of the room. Isa couldn't see the man's face, thankfully, as the man's back turned towards him.

_Run away._ Isa ordered himself, but his body would not move. He knew he should follow the command. He knew it deep in his heart, and it rang in his mind like a prayer. Run away as fast as he could while this dark-skinned murderer had not yet seen him.

But if he did, what will happen to Lea?

Surely, if Isa ran away then, he could escape the building safely, but Lea would come to this room some point in time later, and he might not be as lucky as Isa to have a chance of running away. Knowing Lea, he might even try to fight the murderer for killing Dilan, Aeleus and Braig, utterly getting himself killed as well.

Trust that idiot to magnet them into such a tight situation.

"Why aren't you running away?" the dark-skinned man spoke in a low tone, back still turned towards Isa.

Isa gulped, felt the goosebumps rise in his skin. His young, not yet fully matured heart beat wildly against his chest. It beat so hard, he could practically hear the drumming of his heart against his rib cage. With as much practiced confidence he could pull, just as if he would when on stage during their speech festivals at school, he replied calmly, "I don't want to."

The dark-skinned man chuckled, still not turning to face Isa. "Oh? And why might that be?"

"I have a friend who's in here. In this castle."

"Hmm, a _friend_?" At the mention of "friend", Isa detected a tinge of interest in the man's voice. "Are you sure you should be telling me about this-_friend_? Surely, you can sense the position you're currently in."

Of course, Isa could. He knew he was betting his life on the slight chance he would be able to convince this murderer to spare his friend. He could die in the next few moments. But words came out of his mouth before he could properly process his thoughts, "If you wanted to kill me, you would have done it the moment I entered this room." He didn't think the words through, but somehow he was convinced they were true.

The man laughed, slowly turning to face Isa, saying, "What a very interesting kid you are. Calm, collected, with an incredibly strong heart, determined to give its life in exchange for his friend's safety." The man spread his arms open towards Isa, as if an act of welcoming. "Would you like to join me?"

Isa tried to even his breathing, but the beating of his heart started to escalate again as he stared into the silver-haired man's golden eyes. Eyes so solidly golden and expressionless, he couldn't read into them.

"Are you interested?" The man spoke, snapping Isa back into the current situation.

The bluenette continued his charade, "Join you?"

"Yes. See, I have a plan. A plan to achieve the ultimate power." The man continued, spreading his arms out wide towards the ceiling as if calling out to a Heavenly existence far beyond the enclosures of the Castle. "A power so strong, with it, you will be able to protect all those you hold most dear."

"Protect the ones I hold most dear," Isa echoed absent-mindedly.

"Yes," The man smirked at him, "protect the ones you hold dear, like that _friend_ of yours."

Isa fell silent for a moment. Was it really alright for him making a deal with a murderer? The murderer in whose hands Dilan's and Aeleus'-even Braig's-lives fell. Why would this murderer be so generous to him as to spare his life? But there didn't seem to be any other way. This was the only way to keep Lea alive-to cast away his life as this man's servant. Firm with his resolve, he took a deep breath, his heart then calmly pounding in his chest, and answered, "I'll join you on one condition."

"Hmm, what is it?" The man spoke, his expression unchanging.

"Keep my friend alive."

The man smiled. Strangely, it didn't seem to Isa that the man smile out of happiness due to his response. It didn't seem like the man felt _anything_ towards the situation. The silver-haired man just smiled-an expressionless smile. A smile still unreadable, Isa still couldn't tell if the man fell for his bait or not.

"Alright then," the man started, stretching his right arm to his side. Isa was calming down, glad the murderer accepted his condition (and that Lea would be able to run from this place safely), but jolted in surprise when the man materialized a weapon in his hand out of thin air. What was that weapon? A key-shaped blade? "But before I truly accept you, let me test the strength of your heart."

* * *

"Where is that Isa?" Lea pondered, leaning against the Castle's main door, arms crossed over his chest. He managed to get to the second floor of the Castle, and was amazed by the grand feel of its hallways, but it was just no fun exploring without Isa. He went back to the front doors to see if Isa was still there, only to find no signs of the bluenette. "Did he go home already? Damn him. Just forgetting about m-"

"AAAAAHHH!" he heard a loud scream from the lower floors. The familiarity of the voice burned in Lea's ears, sending his heart to thunder powerfully in his chest.

_No, no, no. It couldn't be._

Lea let his feet guide him, ran fast as he could, to the staircase he saw moments ago that led downstairs. As he ran, the screaming would not stop; if else, it was only getting louder and coarser, as if its source was getting more and more tortured. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes as if feeling the pain of the source of the scream. His face scrunched up in fear for what was happening to his friend.

_Please don't let anything bad happen to him. Please don't let anything bad happen to him. Please don't let anything bad happen to him._ He chanted like a prayer.

Seeing the open door at the end of the hall, the source of the tormenting screams, he grabbed his rubber chakrams and crashed through the door. He immediately threw his chakrams towards the silver-haired man standing in front of his dear friend, who was crunched down on the floor. As his rubber chakrams bounced uneffectively off the man's body, the red-head rushed to his friend.

"Isa! Isa! It's me, Isa!" Lea called desperately, shaking the bluenette by the shoulders, digging his fingers into them when the other wouldn't respond. He was absolutely worried, his heart not stopping to pound against his chest as Isa would not look up at him. "Answer me, Isa!"

"Hmm? So you are his _friend_." The red-head heard the man speak behind him.

"You," Lea growled, voice unusually lower than his adolescent vocals should allow him, as he swiftly turned his head towards the offending man. "What did you do to him?"

"You need not worry." The man smiled at him. An empty smile. "Those with strong hearts shall survive."

"You bastard!" Lea quickly motioned for his chakrams, and with his speed, the bulky man couldn't quite catch up to his movement. Before the massive man could turn towards Lea's direction, the red-head was already behind the man and threw his chakrams with all his strength. The rubber chakrams, again, bounced uselessly off the man's body.

"Hmph, there is a wide variety of weapons, yet you choose such a foolish one."

As Lea was about to pounce another attack, the man moved quickly behind him-as if he teleported-and grabbed the hot headed teen by the neck. "You should be more sensible like your friend." The man spoke the last three words as if a growl. "Know your place."

"Xehanort!" Isa yelled with a croaked voice for he was still groaning in pain. He slowly lifted his head towards the two, revealing to them his blood-stained face. Lea's eyes widened at the horrible state his friend was in.

"I-Isa?" Lea muttered in disbelief. Was this really Isa? His eyes were glowing gold, contrasted to the stark red blood which streamed down from a seemingly X-like mark on his forehead, flowing down his cheeks, dropping from his chin before they pooled on the floor. The eye color was different, but those eyes still held the same silent compassion Lea always felt his friend look at him with.

"L… Lea…" The blue-head breathed in broken patterns, his breathing still not quite stabilizing after his successive screams of pain. "Please, get out of here."

"I won't… leave you." Lea struggled against the silver head man's grip on his neck. Of course, Lea wouldn't leave. He would never ever leave his best friend behind.

As if Lea was a weightless stick, Xehanort threw him towards the wall, making the teen bounce off the wall from the huge impact. "Hmm, it seems I might have to deal with you first."

Xehanort called for his key-shaped weapon again, then took his stance, ready to stab.

"What-" Isa's eyes grew wide in surprise. "Xehanort, you promised!"

"I know my promise." Xehanort replied, still as calm as he was when he first spoke. "But whether I kill him or not is completely up to the strength of his own heart."

"Heh. Throw me anything you've got. I, Lea, am tough enough to accept it." Lea boasted. He grinned, his usual flashy grins, any notion of death still free from his mind. "Got it memorized?"

Xehanort smiled again, another empty smile. Isa knew then and there that if he didn't move from his spot, the man will stab Lea, like the rest of those lying lifeless in the room. That idiot Lea. That fire-loving, chakram-enthusiastic, obnoxious idiot. He had putting all of the bluenette's efforts to waste, _again_, for the second time that day.

Isa cursed Lea one last time-noting to himself that he got this situation "memorized"-and, gathering all his might, he rushed towards the red-head's direction.

Lea expected a sharp, swift pain gore through his chest where the silver-haired man's blade seemed to aim, but there was nothing. As he watched the man's blade swoosh towards his chest, his vision was deterred by familiar, beautiful, blue flowing hair.

It took a moment for Lea to realize. Isa shielded him from the man's attack.

"I… Is…" Lea, eyes wide with shock, tried to call out to his friend who just shielded him from harm, but couldn't force his voice out.

"Heh," Isa managed to chuckle, the blade still not leaving his chest. He tilted his head to his left to see his friend's face full of shock. "You've always been so obnoxious." He coughed, arching his back as Xehanort pulled the weapon from his body. Strangely, no hole took the space where the weapon stabbed him, and no blood flowed from his insides.

Lacking the strength to support his own body, Isa fell backwards into Lea's arms, who caught him before he fell to the floor. Lea's mind was a mix of confusion, rage, and guilt. So many emotions welled up inside him, but he couldn't express any of them. He didn't know where to start.

"Isa…" Lea muttered, trying to stop the tears that so threatened to fall from his eyes. Isa wasn't dying. No. His best friend couldn't possibly be dying in his arms right then. "Isa, please don't…" _Don't leave me._

Isa looked up at the face hovering his. Even in his last moments, his best friend's hair still shone a bright, flaming red. A red he loved so much. He admitted to himself that moment he would awfully miss those red locks once he comes with Xehanort to accomplish his plan. "Lea," he tried to speak, his voice barely a groan. He reached up for his best friend, wiping the red-head's tearless cheeks as if he could already see the droplets of water falling and was wiping them away. "Don't you cry now. Didn't you say you'd always smile?"

"Isa, why…? How…?" Lea shook his head desperately as if ultimately denying the situation at hand. This wasn't happening. There had to be a way to stop this situation from continuing. A way to wake up.

"Well, what can I do? Because you're such an idiot, I have to look out for you, yeah?" Isa's eyes were gentle when he saw the first droplet of water that managed to escape his friend's emerald eyes. Eyes so green and clear, so clean and innocent. He admitted to himself he would miss staring into those emerald eyes, too. "Don't worry. I'll achieve the power to protect you, Lea."

By that time, Isa could feel that all heat had left his body. It was about time before he lost consciousness. With one last brush along Lea's smooth, red locks, and a smile that tried to assure his best friend he'll be okay, he closed his eyes and let all the weight from his chest float up towards the sky.

Xehanort watched the the show in front of him that did not matter. He noted, however, that for someone to stay alive for a relatively long period of time after one's heart was taken from them, he had made the correct decision of recruiting the bluenette, and looked forward to making him a huge part of his plan. At the moment, he needed to gather another piece that would absolutely lure his new precious pawn deeper into his clutches-the _friend_.

"Isa?" Lea whispered as he felt all of Isa's weight fall unto his arms. The red-head shook the bluenette by the shoulders, then started crying out his name repeatedly to wake the bluenette from his trance. Lea lost the hold on his tears, and so they kept flowing down his cheeks, dropping off his chin and washing away the blood on Isa's serene face.

His friend was dead. His friend was dead and it was his fault. He shouldn't have rushed into the Castle that afternoon. He should have listened to Isa, as he had a million times before. Lea felt his heart thunder against his chest again as he screamed out loud, holding the shell of his friend's body close to his own. Guilt, anger, frustration clouded his heart.

"Isa, Isa, Isa!" He continued to call out. As if in hopes that the louder he called, his friend's spirit would hear him and come back to this lifeless body he held.

When a realization came to Lea, he swiftly turned his head towards Xehanort, tears still streaming down his cheeks. It was at that moment that he was convinced that it wasn't his fault Isa was dead. It was that guy's fault. _That guy_ killed him. Lea realized he had to make Xehanort pay for such a horrible thing he had done.

Xehanort approached him then, the black, key-like weapon still in his hand. "Are you mad? Are you angry? Are you so filled with rage?"

"I am." Lea set Isa to lie down properly on the floor before he stood up, back straight, and looked up at the man who was then a mere two feet away from him. His chakrams laid abandoned to his left. He clenched his fists tight, unknowing if the brief plan he'd made up would work. "But… _he_ said you'll be able to give a power that could protect."

"Yes." Xehanort replied, still calm and unfeeling. He sensed what the teen was trying to do, and he would let the teen achieve what he tried to. It would be part of Xehanort's plan, as well, of course.

"Would you be able to give me… such a power, too?"

"If it is what you wish," For a brief moment, Lea thought he saw the silver-haired man's mouth twitch to a smile, "but in exchange you will have to give up your life."

Lea furrowed his eyes, processing the words exchanged just then. He will gain a new power, but he would have to die first? "So… That means after you stab me with that thing, I won't die?"

Xehanort nodded in reply, not bothering to explain the deeper details to such a kid ignorant of the powers of the weapon he held.

"And when I live again, I can get my revenge on you?" A wide grin spread across Lea's face.

Xehanort chuckled. A weird, emotionless chuckle. It sounded like a chuckle, but did not sound delighted, amused nor happy. Xehanort sensed the erratic pulse of the determined red-head in the distance between them. Fiery, passionate, almost exploding with rage, but the owner of such a powerful heartbeat's face was as calm and unflickering as a blue flame. "A perfect attitude for an assassin."

Xehanort then readied to stab the eighth member of his soon-to-be organization on the chest.

Lea closed his eyes. He didn't understand what he was doing, offering his life to the very man that killed his best friend. He wanted to kill the man there and then, if only he could. But he held on to the other man's words-quite innocently (and desperately). He will live again, and by the look of it, when he woke up, Isa would be alive again, too.

The thought of Isa sent tears to Lea's eyes again. He shut his eyes tighter, trying to not let the tears get away, but in doing so, only let the tears run faster down his cheeks. Memories of Isa flashed through his mind and served as comfort to distract him from the pain of the sharp object that was about to pierce him.

Without warning, Xehanort stabbed Lea through the chest. The pain burned and spread through his body, like flickers of flames licking every expanse of his skin. It felt as though the weapon tore at his very internal organs, felt like he was bleeding all over.

As the weapon left his body and he fell to the floor, Lea felt his chest grow lighter and lighter, and the flicker of flames started to disappear.

Lea rolled on the floor, screaming his lungs out due to the pain for a few moments before he laid lifeless on the floor, his body facing the heavens. Right before his spirit left him, but his resolve staying strong, he uttered his best friend's name one last time.

"Isa…"

When the red-head calmed down, Xehanort approached the two new Nobodies, checking for transformations such as eyes that changed in color, or ears that had grown sharper at the tip. He nodded in approval when he observed Number Seven exhibiting both transformations. Perhaps the X scar he carved unto the bluenette's forehead served as a valuable catalyst to this. When he proceeded to check Number Eight, he saw dark marks underneath the red-head's eyes.

"Permanent tears?" Xehanort chuckled, condescending if he had a heart. "What a fool."

On that same day, the teen with the X-shaped scar and the teen with teardrops eternally carved unto his cheeks, were reborn as Number Seven and Number Eight of Organization XIII.

* * *

**END NOTES:** Welp, that was a pretty emotional one-shot. Are you crying? Here, have some tissue. /handsovertissues

I actually started this one-shot way back in June 2012, though I only got to finish it today. Ironically, I put off writing this fic because of school, but I ended up finishing it to avoid thinking about my finals tomorrow. lol I also got to finish this because I watched the whole 358/2 Days cutscenes from KH 1.5 today and that sent me sobbing and crying the whole day, so, yeah. I needed to relieve myself of the "AkuSai y u no be happy?" stress.

Hmm, what can I say about this fic? I explored a bit of my AkuSai headcanons about them "dying for each other" and "Lea was crying when he got turned into a Nobody, thus the teardrop tattoos". I enjoyed exploring those headcanons. I hope you ended up getting convinced by those. Haha.

As for the title, it might seem cheesy, but I named this "Marks of Revival" because this is basically the story about how Isa and Lea got their X-mark and teardrop tattoos, which "marked" their "revival" as Nobodies. Ehehe. Working title was "untitled". lol

Well, anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this fic of mine.

Thank you so much for reading!  
Penny for your thoughts? :)


End file.
